The Making of a Merman

One

“Are you nervous?”

Quince Fletcher looked up at the question. Floating next to him, Lily’s pale blond hair swirled around her like a halo of lemon cotton candy. Her eyes looked a little wider than usual.

Considering what he was about to go through, he shouldn’t have been surprised. By the question or by her obvious nerves.

He flashed a confident grin.

“Why would I be nervous?” he replied with a wink.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Lily said, floating closer. “Maybe because you’re about to go through a magical ceremony that will literally change you forever.”

“That little thing?” He pretended to laugh it off. “No big deal.”

But it was a big deal. A huge deal.

Despite how he was trying to playing it up for Lily, on the inside he was definitely… Well, not nervous exactly. Wary. Who wouldn’t be?

For a guy who didn’t know how to swim until he got himself magically bonded to a mermaid, who preferred to get around in life via two wheels on pavement, this was a very big deal.

Then again, so was falling in love.

If this was what it took to spend even more time with Lily, he wouldn’t hesitate.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous. Erm, wary.

And he had to be man enough to admit it. Especially when Lily gave him that disbelieving look.

“Okay, maybe I’m a little nervous.” He held up his hand with his thumb and finger less than an inch apart.

When she first told him that her father, the king, could finish the mer mark on Quince’s back to make him a full merman, he’d been overjoyed. He’d be ready to commit right then and there on the beach.

Then the king said he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—complete the mark on the spot as planned. They needed to go back to the palace to perform the ceremony.

Nothing was every straightforward when mermaid magic was involved.

Quince then had the whole swim to Thalassinia to roll it around in his mind.

Only a few hours ago, he graduated from high school. Now he was about to become a merman.

How many major life changes could a guy go through in one day?

“A little nervous?” Lily replied.

He shrugged and put another inch between his thumb and finger.

Lily kicked closer and wrapped her arms around him. He reveled in the extra warmth her body gave him against the chilly ocean water. Her touch sent his doubts swimming away.

In her arms, everything felt right. In her arms, anything was possible.

“It’ll be fine,” she promised. “You’ll be the best merman ever.”

He smiled against her hair, even though she couldn’t see it. Her tendency to exaggerate was one of his favorite things to tease her about.

“The best?” he echoed. “Ever?”

She pulled back so she could look him in the eye. He could practically see her thinking, trying to figure out how to best respond. Would she rise to his bait or back down?

He loved it when she rose to the bait.

“Well…” She tapped a finger to her mouth, as if reconsidering her statement. “The best that’s ever gone through a transfiguration ceremony, anyway.”

She smirked at him.

He couldn’t resist. He smirked back and then pressed his mouth to hers.

She tasted sweet, like a mix between key lime pie and strawberry lemonade. Probably from the sand strawberries she had snuck him down into the palace kitchens to eat while they waited.

He could stay like that forever, her mouth soft and sweet under his, their arms around each other. It almost made him forget everything else that was going.

Almost.

There would be plenty of time for underwater make-out sessions after.

Reluctantly, he pulled back.

“Have there been many?” he asked.

Her brows furrowed over slightly unfocused eyes.

“Many what?”

“Like me,” he said. “Humans getting to go through the transfiguration ceremony?”

Lily smiled briefly and then turned more serious.

“Um…” She bit her lip and glanced away.

Quince felt a chill race down his spine. He was pretty sure it wasn’t just from the icy cold ocean water.

“What?”

She forced a reassuring smile as she shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

That chill settled into an uncomfortable knot in his stomach.

“Just tell me.”

“Really, it’s nothing.” Her eyes widened even more. “It’s just…”

Quince braced himself. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk about this whole thing. Sure, there had been some discussion when he got the wave portion of the mer mark. The part that gave him the ability to breathe underwater.

But from the moment Lily told him that her father could finish the mark and make him a merman, only a few hours had passed.

Maybe he should have asked some questions before jumping in with both feet.

“Tell me,” he said, trying not to sound nervous.

The fact that she couldn’t seem to meet his gaze wasn’t helping.

She took a deep breath. “There have only been a few known cases of human transfiguration in mer history.”

“And…?”

“Most of them went great!”

Her beaming smile positively warmed the entire ocean. But Quince could see the way it wavered at the edges. There was something she wasn’t saying. Something she was afraid to say.

He frowned. “And the others?”

“Sometimes… In a few cases…” She fidgeted with the platter of sand strawberries on the counter. “Once or twice…”

“You’re killing me, princess,” he says. “Spit it out.”

She spun away from the counter to face him as she blurted, “The human turns into a sea monster.”

Quince choked.

Lily swam around behind him and whacked his back as he coughed. It took him several seconds to be able to breathe again.

“A sea monster?” he echoed, barely able to say the words.

He didn’t even know that sea monsters actually existed. Sure, a year ago he didn’t know that mermaids existed, so it wasn’t like his knowledge of mythological underwater life was extensive. But that seemed like the kind of thing that Lily would have mentioned before now.

His mind raced, trying to form a rational thought.

What kind of sea monster? Was there a way to reverse it? What would they tell his mom?

Quince’s runaway thoughts came to a screeching halt as Lily burst out laughing.

“Lord love a lobster,” she cried. “The look on your face!”

Quince felt his frown deepen.

“I’m joking, you big lug.” She punched him playfully in the arm.

“Lily…” he said with fake warning in his voice. He couldn’t hide the smile, though.

He reached for her, but she kicked out of his reach.

“See,” she said, dancing above him in the water, “I am getting better at teasing.”

He let his arms drop to his side. He couldn’t help but smile as he shook his head. “When I have a tailfin, you won’t be able to escape.”

She gave him a look that seemed to say, Oh won’t I?

“Admit it.” She swam back down to face him. “That was a good one.”

He laughed out a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she slipped hers around his waist.

He didn’t know it was possible to love her more than he already did, but apparently it was. Leaning in close, he said against her mouth, “It was a very good one.”

But before he could dive deeper into the kiss, there was a knock on the door.

---

Two

Quince pressed his forehead against Lily’s with a sigh. The palace kitchens weren’t exactly private, but he thought they would be left alone until the ceremony.

“Ahr-hem,” a loud male voice said from just beyond the doorway. “Princess Waterlily?”

Lily flashed Quince an apologetic smile as she twisted out of his arms.

“Graysby,” she whispered. Then she turned toward the doorway and called out, “Yes, we’re in here.”

The king’s advisor swam in looking extremely nervous. Then again, Quince had never seen this guy not looking extremely nervous. That seemed to be his perpetual state.

“Begging your pardon, Princess,” he said to Lily. “But His Highness would like a word.”

Lily slipped her hand into Quince’s.

“I’m sure it’s just formalities.” She smiled at Quince. “Let’s get this over with and then get back to our, ahr-hem, conversation.”

She waggled her eyebrows.

As they started for the door, Graysby floated into their path.

“Um, no, sorry,” he said. “The king only wishes to see Master Quince.”

Lily froze in the water.

“Oh. Um…” She glanced at Quince. Now she looked as nervous as Graysby. “Okay.”

Quince smiled and waved it off. “No big deal.”

But it felt like a big deal. He couldn’t help the little thud in his chest at the prospect of facing the king.

Of facing Lily’s dad.

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted.

He popped a kiss on her nose and then held out his arm to Graysby.

If he was looking forward to one thing after the ceremony, it was not having to depend on anyone else to get around underwater. He didn’t like being reliant on anyone. On land or in the sea.

He might not have known how to operate a tailfin, but he would figure it out. Fast.

Graysby stayed silent as he guided them through the palace halls and up the swirling ramp to the king’s office. He deposited Quince in the hall and went inside, presumably to inform the king of Quince’s presence.

Quince wasn’t too proud to eavesdrop at the door.

His past interactions with the king—and with Thalassinian formalities, as Lily called them—hadn’t been the most pleasant of experiences. He’d like to know what he was swimming into, if he could.

“Master Quince is here,” he heard Graysby say in his deferential way.

“Hmm, what?” The king sounded distracted. “Oh, good. Show him in.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Quince tried to kick away from the door so he wouldn’t be caught listening. But of course the whole kicking away thing didn’t work how he wanted and he just kind of ended up sending himself into a roll.

To his credit, Graysby didn’t comment when he found Quince floating upside-down in the doorway.

With a straight face, he said, “King Whelk will see you now.”

Then he helped Quince turn upright and gave him a little shove to get him going the right direction.

King Whelk sat behind his massive stone desk, studying a stack of gently curling papers. Despite Quince’s presence having been announced, the king didn’t seem to notice. Or care.

With an awkward kind of crawl that Lily had been trying to teach him for weeks, Quince managed to make it closer to the desk.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” he said. “Um, your highness?”

The king looked up and frowned.

“Please, son,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “We aren’t so formal here.”

Quince couldn’t help glancing back over his shoulder toward where he knew Graysby was floating just outside the door. The merman positively defined formality.

The king laughed softly. “Well, other than Graysby, of course.”

Quince shrugged and tried to smile. It was hard to shake the foreboding of this meeting.

“Call me Whelk,” the king told him.

“Okay.” He swallowed awkwardly. “Whelk.”

It felt weird to be so informal with a king.

“Have a seat, Quince.”

The king gestured at the pair of stone chairs facing the desk.

Quince tried to get himself oriented to swim down. He slashed his arms this way and that, struggling to find a movement that actually got him where he was trying to go. After several long moments he had only managed to move himself a few inches. In the wrong direction.

The king made a sound and when Quince looked up he saw the ruler of all Thalassinia laughing at him.

Not in the unrestrained way that Lily laughed at him. More of a reserved chuckle. Quince had to admit he probably looked pretty ridiculous trying and failing to get around underwater. Given the situation, the king was showing a lot of restraint.

He must have decided to put Quince out of his misery, because Whelk pushed up from his desk.

“That’s fine,” he said. “Never mind.”

Quince was grateful for the reprieve as the king swam up to meet him.

But his relief was short-lived.

“Before the ceremony,” Whelk said ominously, “I think we should have a talk.”

Quince forced himself to remain calm. “Yes, sir.”

“Receiving agua vide will mean a lot of changes in your life,” he said. “You will have to spend time in the water regularly—saltwater, specifically.”

Quince nodded. He remembered that part from when he almost became a merman the first time.

“And there will be some growing pains during your first few transfigurations,” he explained. “Nothing unbearable, as I understand it. But it will likely feel uncomfortable, at the very least.”

“I know, sir,”  he said. Then when the king started to correct him, “Whelk. Lily and I have been talking about them.”

The king studied him for several long moments. Quince forced himself not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“These are changes and inconveniences you are willing to accept?” the king finally asked.

Quince nodded. “Yes.”

Whelk’s expression softened, which only made Quince more nervous.

“And have you decided what you will tell your mother?”

Quince opened his mouth to answer and then immediately closed it. He didn’t know the answer to that question.

He had expected the others—about whether he was ready to make this huge life change—but that one came as a surprise.

Ever since he found out the truth about Lily, keeping her secret from his mom had been the hardest thing. Before Lily, she was all he had. Besides Lily, she was the only person who mattered in his life.

Keeping the secret had been hard. Figuring out how to tell her, apparently, was harder.

“Not yet,” he finally admitted.

The king smiled paternally. “You will figure it out. One day, the answer will become obvious.”

“Thanks,” Quince replied. But he didn’t feel as confident as the king about that one.

“Just don’t let it drag on too long,” the king advised, his tone turning slightly more serious. “Secrets have a way of festering.”

Quince studied the king. Something was lurking at the back of his eyes. Some shadow.

But before Quince could figure out whether to ask if the king was okay, Whelk cleared his throat.

“Let us not delay any longer,” he said. “Are you ready?”

Quince blinked at the abrupt shift. “Yes, sir.”

“Lily, you can come in now,” the king called out.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Quince watched Lily swim in from the hallway. She wasn’t the least bit ashamed for having been caught listening in on a meeting she wasn’t invited to.

She grinned at her father, who smiled back at her with so much affection that Quince couldn’t imagine him ever being upset with her.

“Let’s get your young man to the royal hall,” Whelk told Lily as he clapped his hands together. “It seems I have a long-overdue ceremony to perform.”

---

Three

Quince’s heart raced as they swam through the palace. Beside him, Lily practically buzzed with excitement. She couldn’t stop grinning.

He knew he should feel that same excitement, and he was excited. But there were also nerves. He was entering the unknown. He didn’t know what to expect from the ceremony. He didn’t know how the transfiguration process would feel, or even how it worked.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t the sort of thing that worked. It wasn’t like swapping out the brake pads on his motorcycle. The whole thing was magic. An ancient mythological magic that dated all the way back to Olympus and the Greek gods. Becoming a merman didn’t come with a manual.

Fine, he could accept not understanding the mechanics.

But how would it feel?

He was just about to ask Lily that very question when they rounded a corner and found themselves face-to-face with a trio of mergirls.

Quince recognized them. A wave of protective anger crashed into his chest. They were the group Lily and Peri called the Terrible Trio. He hadn’t bothered to remember their names.

He wasn’t about to let them continue their bullying ways.

He straightened his back—as much as he could in the water, anyway—and prepared to be Lily’s knight in shining armor.

But instead of a verbal attack, the one in the middle—the redhead with a turquoise tailfin—lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

He was so stunned, he could only blink and stare at Lily in confusion.

“We’re so excited,” the redhead squealed in his ear, “for you to join our people.”

“Uh…” He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, so he just let them float at his side. “Thanks?”

The redhead released him just as suddenly as she’d grabbed him and turned to grab Lily into a hug. Lily didn’t seem as startled by the action as he’d been.

He gave his princess a questioning look as the other two members of the trio tackle-hugged him, one from each side, sending him floating backward.

“We’re thrilled,” the dark-haired one said.

The blonde echoed, “Thrilled.”

“Yeah, it’s um…” He patted each one gently on the shoulder and then somehow—a miracle for his terrible swimming ability—twisted himself out from between them. “Thrilling.”

They grinned at him, seemingly unaware of his discomfort.

“Thank you, Astria,” Lily said.

Quince narrowed his eyes at her, shocked by her genuinely friendly response. He was even more surprised when Lily hugged the redhead back.

“We so appreciate your support.” Lily looked at the rest of the trio. “All of you.”

The other two giggled and squirmed like excited toddlers.

“Uh, yeah,” Quince said, trying to make his way back to Lily’s side. “Thanks.”

He braced himself for some kind of stinging barb. Or maybe a snarky comment. A backhanded compliment at the very least.

But in the end, there wasn’t even an ironic smirk.

“We’ll see you in the hall,” Astria said with a smile. “Come on, girls, I want to get a good seat.”

Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the trio swam away.

Quince stared after them, wondering what the heck had just happened. It was like he’d swum into some Twilight Zone version of Thalassinia. One where mean girls were actually nice.

“What was that all about?” he asked when he was sure the trio was out of sight and earshot. “I thought you four hated each other.”

Lily shrugged. “We’ve come to an understanding.”

He didn’t miss the small smile she tried to hide.

“Did you threaten to expel her family from the palace?” he guessed. “Again?”

The smile exploded across Lily’s face.

“No, of course not.”

Quince frowned. “Then what?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Lily replied. She seemed maybe as confused as Quince felt, but not as concerned about it. “I think Astria has had an awakening.”

“And where Astria goes…?”

Lily nodded. “Piper and Venus follow.”

He shook his head. Quince had never been a follower and he couldn’t quite understand the mentality. But if Lily trusted them now, then he supposed he could too.

“Hey, what did Astria mean about getting a good seat?” he asked as they continued making their way through the palace to the royal hall. “How many people are going to be at this—“

“Peri!” Lily squealed as they rounded the final corner and saw who was floating outside the royal hall.

The two mergirls, best friends since they were babies—or guppies, as merfolk said—hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in months. Quince knew it had only been days.

The merguy floating next to Peri looked at the pair with undisguised amusement. If Quince had to guess, he’d say this Captain Jack Sparrow looking dude was Peri’s new boyfriend.

Peri released Lily only long enough to hug Quince, and then hugged her best friend again.

“I can’t believe it,” Peri squealed. “Quince is becoming a merman.”

“I know!” Lily exclaimed. “I can’t believe it either.”

While the two mergirls chatted excitedly, the other guy held out his hand to Quince.

“Riatus Ballenato.” He nodded his head at Peri. “I’m with her.”

“I figured,” Quince replied. “I’m Quince.”

Riatus laughed. “Oh, I know.” When Quince raised his brows, surprised, the merguy added, “The entire kingdom knows.”

Quince scowled.

He knew it must be kind of a big deal for a human to get turned into a merperson. But was it really headline news?

Riatus dropped his hand back to his side. “From what I’ve heard, you’re a great guy.”

“Thanks.” Quince shrugged uncomfortably.

“It’ll be an honor to see you as our prince one day.”

Quince opened his mouth to says thanks again. Then he realized what the guy had said.

Prince? Prince?

His heart thudded harder in his chest. Was that true? He’d never even thought of that.

Falling for a mermaid who happened to be a princess was one thing. Even getting turned into a merperson himself he could handle.

But the idea of becoming a prince? Being royalty? Having responsibility for an entire kingdom?

For a blue-collar kid from Seaview who never seemed destined for more than a career in construction and weekend motorcycle maintenance, it was overwhelming to say the least.

“Ready?” Lily asked, oblivious to his racing thoughts.

He jerked back into reality.

“What?”

How could his mouth suddenly feel so dry when he was literally breathing water?

“It’s time,” she said with a beaming smile.

Before he had time for first thoughts, let alone second, the door to the royal hall swung open. A muffled roar washed out over him. The murmur of dozens—no, hundreds of mer voices.

Half the kingdom was waiting inside. Ready to watch him become a merman.

Ready to watch him become their future prince.

His first instinct was to flee. No joke. His brain shouted for him to turn and swim back to land before things went any further.

Not that he could get there very quickly—or even at all—but he could try.

But then he looked at Lily. The expression on her face was one of pure joy and anticipation.

And love.

Her eyes were filled with love.

That was all that mattered. She loved him almost as much as he loved her—although she would insist it was the other way around. With her at his side, he could handle anything.

With her at his side, he felt invincible.

As she took his hand, all of his fears and doubts melted away, disappearing on the gently flowing ocean current.

“Ready?” she asked again.

He grinned. “Let’s do this.”

---

Four

Quince floated in the open doorway, Lily’s hand clutched in his. He squeezed a little harder as he took in the scene.

At the far end of the room, which seemed like miles away from the door, King Whelk sat in the ornately-carved throne. An open aisle formed a clear path between the two. But to either side of the aisle, it looked like half the merfolk in Thalassinia filled the cavernous room.

On a good day, Quince didn’t care much for crowds. He preferred being alone with Lily in confined spaces, like bathroom stalls.

But this? This was beyond any crowd he’d ever faced.

He could only float there, frozen in the icy cold water, and stare. His gaze darted from the crowd to the king to the crowd to the king.

Whelk must have sensed Quince and Lily’s presence, because he looked up from the scroll he was reading and noticed them in the doorway. He lowered the scroll and smiled at them.

Almost as one, every single merperson in the hall turned to see what the king was smiling at. Hundreds of pairs of eyes suddenly trained directly on Quince.

He didn’t mind a little bit of attention, but this kind of spotlight was too bright for his liking.

Lily must have sensed his instinct to retreat, because she floated closer to his side and gave his hand a squeeze.

“You’ve got this,” she whispered.

Not letting go of his hand, she started to swim them down the aisle.

Quince pulled her back. “No.”

She turned to look at him, a flicker of worry in her eyes. Did she think he was going to back out? That he was going to turn, un-tailfinned, and swim for home?

She knew him better than that.

“I don’t want you to lead me,” he explained. “This is a swim I need to make on my own.”

He pulled his hand gently from hers.

Her worry transformed into a smile and he saw the faintest glitter of mermaid tears appear in her eyes. He reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek

She bit her lips and nodded, drifting back a few inches to let him have space.

“I’ll meet you there,” she said.

Then she swam toward the throne. She made it look so easy.

Quince refused to fail. He drew in a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and took a stroke. He barely moved an inch, but at least it was an inch in the right direction. So he took another. And another.

After several strokes and several inches, he wondered why on earth he had sent Lily away. Would it really have hurt his pride so much to have her help him down the aisle? Apparently.

Now it was going to take him an entire year just to make it to the throne.

He didn’t give up. He kept trying, pulling his arms in the motion that Lily had been teaching him. Trying to get his legs to work in a coordinating motion. Swimming on the surface was hard enough, but at least he felt reasonably competent up there.

Underwater, especially this far underwater, was infinitely harder.

He tried not to think about how far he had left to go. He tried not to think about how ridiculous he must look. He tried not to think about all the eyes on him.

Which only made him think about all of those things even more.

He focused his gaze on Lily’s encouraging smile and kept swimming.

He’d made it a few feet down the aisle when little mergirl swam out of the crowd.

“I want to help,” she said with a sincere smile.

Before Quince could say a word—but, really, was he going to turn down assistance at this point—she swam around behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw her swirling her hands in his direction. He felt the tiniest wave of water that her motions created.

It wasn’t much, but his pride had vanished and he welcomed whatever help he could get.

Suddenly, another merperson swam out to join her. And then another. One after another, dozens of merfolk joined the girl, waving hands and tailfins to create a current strong enough to propel him down the aisle.

He kept up his awkward swimming, making swift progress now that the merpeople of Thalassinia were waving him along. Literally.

The beaming look on Lily’s face as he coasted toward the throne was priceless.

King Whelk looked just as pleased.

Lily grabbed Quince before he could float past the throne. As she settled him into position, he saw the merfolk who had helped him swimming back to their places.

“Thank you, everyone, for moving this ceremony along,” the king said to the crowd. Then, looking at Quince, he added, “As you can see, the kingdom is behind you.”

Quince laughed, half-embarrassed, half-honored. “Literally.”

Lily snorted and tried to hide her amusement behind her hand. She couldn’t disguise the laugh lines crinkling the corners of her eyes.

The king’s expression turned somber.

“We are gathered here today,” he said, again addressing the crowd, “to welcome Quince Aaron Fletcher into the Chora Oceanos.”

Lily quietly translated, “The Ocean Realm.”

Someone in the crowd cheered. Loudly. Quince scanned his gaze over the room and saw Lily’s cousin, Dosinia, floating above the rest. She waved her arms and hooted once more before the king gave her a scowl and she floated back down.

“If there are any in attendance who object to this transfiguration ceremony, speak now,” Whelk said, “or forever be silent on the matter.”

Quince held his breath.

Lily darted her worried gaze over the crowd.

He didn’t have reason to think that anyone would object to him becoming a merman, but he never knew. There could be some staunch anti-human faction in the mer world that wouldn’t want him anywhere in their ocean.

Until that moment, Quince didn’t know just how much he really wanted this to happen. It took thinking there might be a possibility of not become a merman to realized how much it meant to him.

After several tense, silent seconds, there seemed to be no objections coming. Quince released his breath. He felt Lily do the same.

The king nodded to Grouper.

“In the name of the royal household of Thalassinia,” the king said, “and the Chora Oceanos, I will now perform the meramorphosi.”

Grouper swam forward, carrying an ornate box in front of him. Graysby swam to Quince’s side and took him by the shoulders. As the king opened the box, Graysby guided Quince into position in front of the throne, facing out to the room.

With his back to the king, Quince could only see the crowd gathered to watch his ceremony. He sensed movement at his side and then felt Lily’s hand in his.

“With Capheira’s quill,” the king announced, “I will complete the mer mark and set the transfiguration in motion.”

The entire hall fell silent as the king started to work.

Quince closed his eyes. He wasn’t scared, but he was anxious. He was trespassing into the unknown. He had no clue what the next few moments would hold, so he tried to center himself by focusing on the feeling of Lily’s warm palm against his.

A cold sensation swirled at the base of his neck. He tried to imagine what was happening. According to Lily, the king would finish the mer mark by adding the flower to the circle of waves that had already been applied to give him the ability to breathe water.

“With this flower,” Whelk said, sounding every bit the proud, solemn ruler of Thalassinia, “I grant mer life.”

The cold sensation changed and suddenly it was searing pain. Like the flash of a welding torch against his neck.

Quince winced against the pain and clenched his jaw, not wanting to show weakness in front of the entire kingdom. What kind of about-to-be merman would that make him?

But when the pain started to radiate out, spreading across his shoulders and down his body, he couldn’t contain a groan.

“Daddy?” Lily whispered anxiously.

“Patience, daughter,” the king replied softly. “It is almost done.”

Quince held his breath. He could make it. He could make it. He could—

In a flash, the pain was gone. Complete relief, as if it had never happened. He could breathe freely again.

“It is done.”

The crowd erupted in cheers. Like they’d just won the championship football game. Or, in the merfolk world the championship seaball game.

Quince opened his eyes and looked at Lily. Her eyes glittered with what he really hoped were happy tears.

She bit her lip and then nodded.

He flashed her a grin. He was trying for cocky, but he had a feeling he was barely managing relieved. If he never had to feel that kind of pain again, it would be too soon.

Lily’s gaze slowly drifted down and her glittery eyes widened.

Following the direction of her gaze, Quince glanced down at his legs. Only, instead of legs, there was a tailfin.

An onyx black tailfin.

He couldn’t resist testing it out. In a slow, intentional movement, he kicked. The tailfin undulated, glistening in the underwater light like polished obsidian.

He was an honest-to-goodness merman.

He barely had time to fully process the thought before Lily launched herself at him. As she peppered him with kisses, the crowd behind them cheered even louder.

From the moment he met her, he knew his life was never going to be the same. He couldn’t wait to see where she took him next.